Yulia Inshina has officially announced her retirement today in an Instagram post.
She wrote: “I’me very grateful to life that at 23 years old I first competed for Russia for five years and then for another five years – for Azerbaijan. Today I finished my career. It’s a bit sad but it’s MY choice!”
Inshina was on the Russian team at the 2011 Worlds where she won team silver. She was an alternate for the 2012 Olympic team. In 2013, she switched nationalities and started representing Azerbaijan. For the past five years, she was also coaching young gymnasts in Baku.
Inshina’s last competition was just a week ago when she competed at Paris World Cup. She was on the nominative team for the World Championships in Doha. This year, Azerbaijan had only three senior gymnasts – Marina Nekrasova and Maria Smirnova in addition to Inshina. Smirnova injured her knee at Euros and Nekrasova and Inshina were the last ones standing, so this decision comes quite unexpected. Inshina hasn’t yet commented on the reasons for the retirement.
